BIG KNOCKOUT MIGHT SET UP BIG REMATCH: PACQUIAO VS. MARQUEZ NO. 5

LAS VEGAS 
Both boxers were calling for a rematch late Saturday after the stunning finish to the wild fourth meeting between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden.

Bloody, bruised and behind on the cards of all three judges, Marquez appeared headed to defeat when he stopped Pacquiao with a last-second, overhand right in the sixth round.

And we mean last-second.

The official time of the punch: Two minutes and 59 seconds.

Pacquiao was apparently in the process of pounding Marquez into submission when the Mexican counterpuncher pivoted off the ropes and caught Pacquiao leaning in.

“What can I say, Manny was dominating the fight and got caught with a punch that he never saw,” said Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach. “He never saw it coming. I don’t know how Marquez was still there at the end of the sixth round.”

Which is why Pacquiao — who was motionless for almost a minute after hitting the canvas face first — called for Marquez-Pacquiao V before heading to the hospital to be examined for a concussion.

Pacquiao had won two of the first three meetings between the rivals with the first fight ending in a draw. But the third rematch was far different from the first three fights. Saturday’s battle was a toe-to-toe slugfest reminiscent of the Thomas Hearns-Marvin Hagler classic of two decades ago.

Pacquiao wants Marquez-Pacquiao V because he knows he was very close to winning by a knockout Saturday. And Marquez wants another win to “even the score.”

“This victory brings justice to us,” said Marquez, referring to the controversial majority-decision loss he suffered in Marquez-Pacquiao III. “I never thought he was going to beat me tonight.”

That followed one of the stranger post-fight comments.

“I fought an intelligent fight,” said Marquez. “I knew I was going to get him later.”

If intelligent is getting your nose broken during a five-minute pummeling that began with a fifth-round knockdown, Marquez fought a perfect fight.

“I got careless,” Pacquiao said of being knocked out. “I was winning. He was in trouble and I got careless.”